Bio:

Zadok comes from the fomor mountain monastery community of Szarsim. He was born an only child to a family of farmers living just outside the monastery’s defensive walls, as part of the local farming community. His mother and father always wanted more for him, and over the years pressured him to join the monastery in hopes that he would be able to leave the lowly life of a farmer behind. They hoped he could make something more of himself, potentially joining the upper ruling class of the monastery monks.

Zadok loved his family dearly, and while he would likely have preferred the simple life of minding crops, he followed his parents requests and attended the spring induction festival. The induction festival was one where in those with hopes of studying at the monastery could spar with the inducted youth from the previous season’s festival, and should they win, may then enter the monastery to study the pacifist martial arts lifestyle of the Szarsim mountain monk.

After clumsily, but quickly showing an arrogant young study from the monastery where the ground was, Zadok was inducted. His parents were proud, his future looked bright, and he entered into the monastery, with the gate to the protective walls shutting stoutly behind him.

Years passed and Zadok excelled in his studies of lashing out with his body and mind in unison, it looked as though he was destined for greatness. He would go on the weekend and take meals with his parents outside the monastery walls at their farm. He had even set a plan in motion where in his mother and father could gain jobs within the monasteries walls as clerks in the grain stores. Things seemed hopeful.

For as many generations as the monks could remember, they had been at odds with a local neighboring horde of hill giants. The subject had usually caused tensions between the farmers and the monks of Szarsim, as the farmers felt that since they were providing the main source of food for the community, that they should be able to count on the monks for protection. The monks however, always felt that the pacifist road should be taken, and time and again, let the hill giants pass, stating that the they were more likely to leave sooner and cause less damage when not provoked by an attack. It was this line of thinking that would see Zadok’s world tossed upside down.

Early one fall morning Zadok made his way towards the wall that that separated him from his parents’ hut in order to leave the monastery and join them for breakfast. As he grew closer the gate, he could see a commotion of monks atop the ramparts of the wall, some praying, and some looking down over the other side of the wall. He came to the gate and looked up at the gate keeper to be let out. “I’m sorry Zadok, we can’t let you at at this time, its still too soon after the attack, they could be hiding in wait.”

“What attack do you speak of?” Zadok replied to the gate keeper.

The gate keeper looked down on Zadok, and tensely replied “Hill giants attacked a couple of the farms during the course of the night, first attack in almost a year. Looks like they decided to make up for the time they took off by striking with an unusual ferocity.”

By the time the gate keeper had finished his sentence, Zadok had scaled the wall, and stood, weak kneed, looking out over the farms. They were huddled close to one another against the walls of the monastery, as if to seek warmth from the cold of the mountains. For the only time in his life, his legs gave out from underneath him when he saw the burning farms, and nothing but black, charred earth where his childhood home had been.

A couple of weeks went by, and just as the newly rehashed tensions between the farmers and the monks had begun to settle, a great army appeared on the horizon. The Imperium had been making its way through the range, and it had finally found Szarsim. When the general of the masses of Imperium soldiers requested to convene with the head monks of the monastery, Zadok and many others looked on from the tops of the walls. The head monks picked their way down from the walls along the small stone paved street through the farms and out to the heads of the Imperium. He watched as the monks, from bended knee, handed the customary blue scarves symbolizing peace and pacifism to the mounted general of the Imperium, who passed them off to assistants, seemingly uncaring, for filing away with various other cultures’ symbols of surrender.

The monks stayed and talked with the general for a long time, and when They finally made their way back to within the walls of the monastery, they told the other monks that the general had offered to send a detachment to hunt down the hill giants who had attacked the farmers, as a symbol of solidarity with the newly Imperium incorporated Szarsim.

Zadok immediately volunteered his help with the hill giant detachment, in hopes of quenching his thirst for the revenge of his parents’ death. He was met with a quick and disciplined slap to his shaved head and reminded of his vow of pacifism.

The next morning the monks rose from their sleep and began to start they’re daily chores and training. However, along the ramparts of the monastery wall, they were greeted by the sight of roughly a dozen 20 foot tall pikes, all topped with the heads of the hill giants who had attacked the farmers a couple of weeks prior. Immediately the monks set to dismantling the grizzly display, but Zadok argued with them that it would likely fend off any further attacks by other hordes of hill giants. The monks disagreed, and brought him before the head master, who had him kneel in a side courtyard before the heads of the hill giants and pray for their souls. After a half day, the master came back to remind Zadok of his vows of pacifism, only to find Zadok, and the hill giants’ heads gone.

The master would later learn that Zadoks’ chambers within the monastery had been vacated, and that the pikes and heads had been reinstalled on the charred grounds of Zadoks’ parents’ homestead, and that a note had been found pinned to one of the pikes reading:

Master,

I now reject my vows of pacifism.

Z

Zadok left Szarsim and found the Imperium encampment a few days later. He thanked the general, whose name was Auralius Rackam, for his dealing with the hill giants. He asked to be immediately enlisted into the ranks of the Imperium’s army. Stallari (for that was what the Imperium called its generals) Rackam granted Zadock’s request. Later that evening Zadock was supplied with his standard Imperium garb. He fell asleep to the burning embers of his Szarsim monastery robes.